As casually as they came up, the Seahawks sort of dismissed the Richard Sherman trade rumors yesterday.
All of which makes it an extraordinary piece of non-business in the NFL, with both sides openly acknowledging a potential divorce, while vowing to stay together for the kids if that’s what it takes. They seem to shrug as if either outcome is fine, even though it’s unlike just about anything we’ve ever seen.
“Richard may see it as a fresh start for him and we may see it as a way to clear some cap room and get younger, but neither side is super urgent about it,” Seahawks General Manager John Schneider said, via Stephen Cohen of SeattlePI.com.
Schneider said that once the rumors got out there in March, there was no point denying the obvious — that they’d part ways with the veteran corner for the right price.
“We didn’t really feel like there was anything to hide,” Schneider said. “People say, ‘Well, why do you have your business out the open?’ It was basically out there. People had been talking about it, and there were rumors about it. . . .
“We would consider it because it’s been a mutual thing. It’s OK, and we feel like it would clear cap room and we would be able to get younger, but that’s the only reason we’d do it. The guy’s one of the top cornerbacks of the league. You don’t just like give him away, you know?”
Though things with Sherman haven’t always been peaceful, Schneider said “time heals all wounds” when asked about the relationship with the star cornerback.
Of course, by talking so openly about it, Schneider also keeps Sherman’s name in the news. And with that kind of top-of-mind awareness, someone might make a late call, which they’ve already admitted they’d listen to.
And the honesty continues to amaze us, which probably says more about the NFL in general than the Seahawks in particular.